


Those Who Give The Most (SG1 gen)

by AnnieB



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2018-02-26 23:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2669894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieB/pseuds/AnnieB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tag for Heroes</p>
            </blockquote>





	Those Who Give The Most (SG1 gen)

Written for the SG1 Gen fic Alphabet Soup. 

G Is For Giving

Tag for Heroes.  
Warning: Canon character death

Those Who Give The Most

by

AnnieB1955

 

It's not the first time he's sat here. It's become something he's had to do rather more often than he wants to. Usually though he's not sitting vigil alone. Today he's chosen solitude over support. He wants to pay tribute in his own quiet way, away from those he knows are grieving just as much as he is. He's supposed to be in charge, stoic and strong, and he needs to present that face to the rest of his people. They rely on that quiet strength of purpose of his. But he can't quite find that stoicism within himself today. Not just yet. He'll dig deep and find it later, plaster a layer of authority over the sorrow and the inevitable guilt he knows he wears plainly on his face. Later. Now he just wants to lower his defences and grieve for his friend.

He covers her hand with his own, squeezes it gently. Such small hands for one who'd done so much with them. With these hands, now cold and still, she'd given caring and kindness; healing and mending broken bodies at times against almost insurmountable odds. He's seen those hands bring comfort to small scared children, perform delicate and intricate surgery on the wounded - both friend and foe alike, convey friendship and empathy to colleagues and all those she'd cared for.

She'd been a doctor, an officer, a soldier, a mother, and a friend. She'd packed so much love and laughter and living into her far too short life. He'll miss her wise counsel, her smile that touched her wide expressive eyes, her kindness. He'll miss her, all that she had been and all that she had yet to become. There'll be no dancing at her daughter's wedding, no grandchildren to take into her welcoming arms and heart. And he rages against the unfairness of it all.

“I'm sorry,” he says, finally breaking the silence of the quiet cubicle where he sits shielded from the sympathetic, sorrowing gazes of those who'd also known and worked with her. “This isn't right and it isn't fair. You had so much left to give. If I could have sacrificed myself for you, I would have in a heartbeat.” He can almost hear her voice whisper, “I know” in his mind.

“I'll keep an eye on Cassie for you,” he goes on, “we all will. She's one of us, part of our family. And she'll be just fine. She's a strong young woman, a daughter to be proud of. You did a wonderful job raising her. But you know all that.”

He leans forward and brushes her still lustrous hair away from her forehead. “What you don't know, what this General finds so hard to say to those lost under his command, is how much I'll miss you. You were more than a trusted colleague, much more than a valued officer. You were my friend.”

He stands up, wipes a hand roughly across his tear-damp eyes then salutes her. “Vale, Major,” he says, his voice broken and rough. He reaches out and pats her hand one last time. “Goodbye, Janet.”

The End


End file.
